CeBIT Special Report (2/2) - exploring XML

CeBIT Special Report

Euphoria with Wireless Lans

The sun is shining only over WLAN-land it seems, with equipment being sold in bulk quantities.
More and more WLANs are being installed in public places such as hotels, airports, and burger joints.
The mobile operators see the worth of their UMTS licences decline after a mental bidding war.
Tough times for the mobile industry who have not been plagued with a competitive environment over here....

Online job sites at off-line exhibition

To my astonishment the national unemployment office "Arbeitsamt" was present alongside the expected
Stepstone and JobPilot job sites. A friendly voice asked me whether I used their job offer system.
A "No" answer and pretending to be interested paved the way for a situation that one
typically associates with public authorities: You wait for half an hour or more, there is no free
terminal during that timme, you leave without a result. That problem did not exist for all the other
job sites where surf time had been limited to half an hour or so, what a clever idea.
But alas, I fail to understand why a virtual
job site pays for a physical booth just to print out job offers and put them on a wall. A cooperation
with internet cafe chains would make much more sense...

Conclusion

The industry looks to the end consumer to revitalize the economy. In the current climate, it's
difficult to know whether the discussions on higher taxes will stimulate this development.
It will be interesting to see where things go this year.